The present invention relates to juvenile walkers, and particularly to movement inhibitors for juvenile walkers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system configured to detect and react to the presence of a ledge and inhibit movement of the walker past the ledge.
A walker is an apparatus that includes an elevated seat sized to receive a small child and a rolling base arranged to support the elevated seat. A child seated in the walker uses leg motion to roll the walker toward a destination. Examples of walkers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,699,392 to Ku and 4,799,700 to Knoedler et al.
According to the present invention, a juvenile walker includes a base unit, a child support unit, and a frame unit coupled to the base and child support units to elevate the child support unit above the base unit. A pair of caster wheels is coupled to a rear end of the base unit and a pair of bidirectional wheels is coupled to a front end of the base unit. The caster wheels swivel in relation to the base unit. The bidirectional wheels are rigidly coupled to the base unit so that they are constrained to roll in only two directions in relation to the base unit.
In preferred embodiments, the base unit includes a rectangular base member, a pivot unit mounted inside a front end of the base member for pivotable movement about a pivot axis, and a brake strip coupled to a perimeter edge of the base member. The two caster wheels are coupled to the base member and the two bidirectional wheels are coupled to the pivot unit.
The first bidirectional wheel is coupled to a left end of the pivot unit, the second bidirectional wheel is coupled to a right end of the pivot unit, and the pivot axis passes through a center portion of the pivot unit so that the first bidirectional wheel lies on the left side of the pivot axis while the second bidirectional wheel lies on the right side of the pivot axis. Both bidirectional wheels are constrained to roll back and forth along straight motion lines that lie in spaced-apart parallel relation to the pivot axis of the pivot unit.
The brake strip is coupled to a perimeter edge of the base member. The brake strip includes a support portion made of a first material and a brake portion made of a second material that is softer than the first material. The brake portion is coupled to the support portion and includes a series of channel bodies defining channels. The channel bodies deform when the brake strip engages an edge or floor to inhibit movement of the walker.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.